Shattered Image
by LadyAnidawehi
Summary: Prim. Proper. Angelic. Perfect. Sakura's mother spent years shaping her into the 'perfect' pop princess. Rugged. Sexy. Mischievous. Delinquent. Itachi and his band are on rise with their unorthodox appearance and music. Due to a mutually beneficial situation, they meet and are forced to deal with whatever they need to in order to keep themselves relevant in the eyes of the public.
1. Perfect

**Prim. Proper. Angelic. Perfect. Sakura's mother spent years shaping her into the 'perfect' pop princess.**

 **Rugged. Sexy. Mischievous. Delinquent. Itachi and his band are on rise with their unorthodox appearance and music.**

 **Due to a mutually beneficial situation, they meet and are forced to deal with whatever they need to in order to keep themselves relevant in the eyes of the public. Easier said than done, right?**

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 _I'll show you what a girl is, cause all of me is perfect  
Who cares about the dress size, it's all about what's inside  
I'll stand up now, and won't back down  
We're breaking through the surface, to show you what a girl is  
We're breaking through the surface, to show you what a girl is_

 ** _"And that ladies and gentlemen was the latest hit single from Konoha's very own pop princess Sakura! 'What a Girl is' has been nominated for—"_**

Pale manicured fingers cut off the radio with an irritated sigh as viridian eyes scanned countless magazine articles and gossip blogs about the same person the radio DJ had just been going on about: Sakura Haruno. This young woman of nineteen was the number one idol in all of Konoha, it's very own pop princess. The media just loved talking about her constantly, portraying her as a perfect sweetheart, an angel, a beauty with exotic pink hair, innocently adorable. She was graceful, polite, and all around pleasant. It seemed that in the eyes of the media she could do no wrong, she was a constant bright spot in an otherwise dismal world. They didn't care about the actual girl, just the doll she was forced to be in the eyes of the public.

"Sakura dear! Sakura! Did you hear the wonderful news?" Said pinkette lifted her eyes off the laptop screen to watch her mother enter the room in a flourish of loose fabrics and glittering jewels. Her mother, Mebuki Haruno was an A list actress back in the days off her youth. With her blonde hair, fair skin, and slim figure she was an absolute knock out and though the unescapable signs of aging started becoming more evident, she was still fairly beautiful and would still be in fairly high demand if it not for the fact that she retired to put more effort into her daughter's career.

"Depends on what news you are talking about." The girl said with a sigh as she closed the laptop and gave her mother her full attention. "Did I hear that for the fifth week in a row 'What a Girl is' is at number one? Yes. Did I hear that my music has been nominated for eight awards? Yes. Did I hear that I have been nominated for the Will of Fire for my," she made sure to put air quotes around the next set of words. "'contribution to Konoha's community', then yes I heard the news." It was hard not to hear even if she tried, her mother worked hard to make sure her name was always the big topic, all good things of course. Mebuki would not allow a single negative thing be said about her only child.

Mebuki rolled her eyes and moved to stand at her daughter's side. "Oh stop being so melodramatic Sakura! You earned that nomination by volunteering your free time at the hospital. Besides, it is amazing publicity." Her fingers started playing with the long strands that resembled cotton candy with motherly affection. She had always been a little jealous of her daughter's exotic looks, but knew that the color suited Sakura's porcelain complexion far better than her own.

"That's the thing mother! I didn't do it for the publicity! I did it because I wanted to!" She screeched as she made her way over to the glass door that looked out at the pool. She needed the space between her and her mother. "Besides, there are plenty of others who are doing more than I am able to, yet they have not been nominated!"

"It is because you are better than those people sweetie!" Mebuki's face had a bright smile on her face as if she didn't just say something so wrong and totally rude.

"Would you stop that?! I am not better than anyone! Lest of all better than those that make sure to put so much time in effort into helping those who need it! Have you noticed that Hinata wasn't nominated? Sweet little Hinata who not only puts in just as many hours as I do at the pediatric ward, but also volunteers at the Inuzuka animal shelter AND Nara libraries. She deserves the award much more than I do." Sakura could understand that every mother was proud of her children and thought them better than others, but sometimes she felt her own mother took it too far.

"But sweetie-"

"No mom. Do not but sweetie me." Mebuki's face fell after her daughter's lashing and tears, though fake, started to gather in her eyes that matched Sakura's in color. With a sigh the teen gave her mom a half smile and apologized, she hated how easily her mother could guilt her sometimes. "I'm sorry, mom. What did you come in here to tell me?"

The older woman's face instantly brightened up. "I just heard from Kakashi! He managed to move your interview with Kurenai to today! There was conflicts in scheduling so she didn't have a guest today! Isn't that great?"

Sakura chuckled at her mother's enthusiasm. "I don't know how I would of heard that before you did mother, but yes, that is great. Should I go get dressed soon?"

"Yes dear, it would be best to do so now, we will be leaving within the hour." Mebuki grabbed her daughter's arm and pulled her off to her room with as much excitement as a child visiting their favorite theme park. "I already have an outfit in mind! You are going to look so adorable!

Not even two hours later she was sitting on an overstuffed coach in front of multiple cameras and a large audience. Interviews didn't tend to make her nervous anymore and this time was no different. Everything came naturally to her after years of drills: ankles crossed daintily, hands folded neatly in her lap, back straight, face relaxed and soft, speaking in muted bell like tones, cutely hide her mouth behind her hand with every giggle or laugh. She never spoke more than what was necessary, and always dogged around questions that were too personal, just as her mother taught her to do.

Each action came as easy to her as breathing, but they never fail to tire her out. So, once the cameras were off and she politely said her goodbyes to the host, she quickly retreated to her dressing room. As soon as the door was shut she flopped onto the couch, kicking off the painful heels her mother forced her into as she did. The elaborate up do her stylist did was taken out, her fingers running though to loosen up the hairspray, before redone in a loose ponytail. Pleased with herself, her eyes began to drift closed in relaxation now that she was alone and safe.

Mebuki came into the room several minutes later, pulling Sakura back from the brink of unconsciousness, her eyes filled to the brim with excitement. "You did wonderful dear as always, but that's no real surprise. And of course they just adored you! Kurenai and the producers all agreed that they would love to have you back again, and maybe next time you can perform live for everyone."

"Of course they love me mom, they always love me. These media shows seem to think I can do no wrong and are afraid to say anything against me because you are my mother." She muttered without an ounce of narcissism, just tired acceptance.

The obvious despondent tone went over the older woman's head as he grinned happily. "Well that's because there is nothing they can criticize dear. You have no faults!"

The younger woman sighed and listened as her mother continuously blab on and on about just how lovely and perfect she was. If only her mom realized that she wasn't as perfect as she seemed to believe, that she only seemed that way because that's the way she wanted Sakura to be portrayed to the public. If only she noticed the signs that the young girl wasn't happy with her image or how prim and proper she was told she NEEDED to be.

"Mother," Sakura managed to cut in on her mother mid-rant. If she didn't stop her now, she could go one for at least another twenty minutes and she just could not listen to it again. She loved her to death, but she swore, her mother can make her want to pull her hair out sometimes. "How much longer do you think we will need to hide out till the crowd is gone? I have plans with Ino tonight and she is going to throw a huge hissy fit if I am late again."

"Oh? I did not know you had plans today. I had a nice dinner planned out." The elder woman said with a dejected sigh. "Can you not reschedule?" She said hopeful.

"No I can't mom. Tonight is supposed to make up for the last time you asked me reschedule, which was to make up for the time before that. I cannot keep putting Ino off to follow along with your whims, it is rude and un-ladylike." Sakura knew she had won her case as soon as she brought up the disregard for manners. As much as it seemed her mother disliked Ino, because she deemed the girl too mouthy and brash, she disliked forgoing proper etiquette

"Oh you are right, silly me. I will just have to invite Kakashi over for dinner, heavens knows he does not take care of himself properly. He should really find himself a nice woman, well as long as it does not interfere with his work of course. I would be completely lost without him." Her mood did a complete turn around and the mere thought of work. She seemed to enjoy helping manage Sakura's career almost as much as she did acting. "We can discuss what the next step will be to further your career and increase the buzz before the awards show next month." Sakura could tell she was not happy about being basically outsmarted by her daughter, but at least her mother can do something productive with it instead of just showering her only child in unnecessary praise. "I am sure we will be able to leave within the half hour, an hour at the very latest. The studio is usually pretty good at clearing the area quickly."

With a sigh of relief, she gave her mother a soft smile. Although she loved the woman to death, she needed to get away. It has been nearly two months since the last time she was able to leave the house without her mother at her side or without an appointment she needed to attend to. If she didn't get away soon, she was sure she was going to end up snapping at her mother and cause a great deal of problems that she would prefer to just avoid. Soon she will be at her best friend's house eating all the junk food she was forbidden from eating at home, after the boxing lesson her mother was unaware she was taking. Soon she was going to be free, even if it was only for a mere twelve hours or so.

' _Just an hour more.'_

* * *

 **Hello everyone! Not sure how many people actually read these little author notes at the bottom, but I wanted to let you know about a few things.**

 **So this is not my debut to Fan-Fiction. I actually used to have an account long ago, but to be honest I am quite embarrassed about my work on it.**

 **Now even though I feel like my work is much better now than it was then, I would still very much enjoy any suggestions or criticisms anyone may have. I just ask that if you do criticize my work, please be respectful about it and offer genuine suggestions to make my writing better. Thank you.**

 **I'm planning for this to be a rather long fanfiction. Though I do not have it written out just yet, I do have everything planned out in a plot tree. Hopefully this means that as long as my personal life does not interfere, I should have new chapters up at least once a week, if not more.**

 **Thank you to those who have read this. I appreciate it.**


	2. Sanctuary

**I already have the second chapter for you and most likely the third will be in progress as you read this. I hope you enjoy it. And please, leave a review, I'd love to hear your input. Thank you!**

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Finally away from her mother's ever watchful eyes and now in the company of her best friend, Sakura felt as ease, even as she attacked the punching bag Ino held onto for her. Her mother would never approve of her taking up such a violent hobby, deeming it too masculine, but there was something about it that Sakura thoroughly enjoyed. It gave her a rush that her dance classes, gymnastics, and yoga sessions didn't. Don't get her wrong, she enjoyed them too, but they were too tame. Besides, she needed a hobby that had absolutely nothing to with bettering or furthering her career.

She fell in love with it after accompanying a dear friend of hers to his boxing lesson. Naruto, one of her oldest friends aside from Ino, was also a public figure, though an athlete instead of a singer. She had accompanied him for publicity sake, Kakashi deeming it necessary for the public to know of their longtime friendship in hopes of attracting new fans that normally she would not have access too. As she watched him from the sidelines, she yearned to join in with him., but of course she had to act as if she was the epitome of femininity. Though as soon as she had Naruto alone, she practically begged him to teach her. Naruto could never say no to the woman he considered his souls-sister, even he agreed she should pick up something more invigorating. So she trained with him in secret whenever she could escape from her mother's watchful eyes. Whenever he was out of town for one of his sporting events, she would practice in Ino's basement, which she turned into the perfect work out room.

"So Kurenai was no different than the other interviewers?" asked the girl who Sakura fondly named Pig. The woman was quite different than her pinkette bestie. She was beautiful in a sensual way with her long blonde hair that always looked as if it was made of silk and her3 eyes were a beautiful shade of cobalt lined with thick lashes she just loved to flutter to attract male attention. The blonde was also more gifted in the chest area than Sakura, something the Pig often teased her for.

"No." _Punch._ "Not really." _Punch, punch._ "You'd think these people would stop having me on their show considering they all ask me the same set of questions. 'How proud are you for being nominated slash winning the award for such and such?', 'Do you ever plan on following in your mother's footsteps by pursuing a career in acting?', 'Oh wow, is your hair natural?' That one is my favorite." The pinkette mocked as she wiped away the sweat on her brow with a stray rag. "Do you know how bad I want to give them some snarky ass comment every time I get asked that? No! Of course it is not natural! I just decided to randomly dye not only the hair on my head but my eyebrows, eyelashes, and practically any other hair on my body pink too. I go through so much effort every single day just to make you believe it is all natural."

The blonde snickered before taking a drink from her water bottle. "I would seriously pay some good money to actually hear you say that to someone." Pulling her blonde locks out of its ponytail and running her fingers though it to tame the stray locks, the woman grinned at her best friend. "Hell I'd pay to see anything happen that your mother would deem a disaster. No offense girlie, but your interviews are dull as hell."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the face her mother would make. "No offense taken, I agree with you. It's even worse being a part of them." She too pulled her hair from it ponytail and shook it out, but she didn't care if her hair was a wild mess. "But hey, maybe you'll get your wish. I have an interview with Anko next week and you know she isn't the most pleasant woman in the world to deal with. If any of these media icons were to ask me real questions, it will be her."

"Are you sure you want to do that?" The blonde asked, her mood switching from lively to concerned in the matter of a single heartbeat. "Anko can be rather cruel to her guest on the show. She is ruthless Sakura and a bitch to boot. Remember what she did to Neji?"

Of course she remembered what happened to Neji, she was actually there in the studio that day for moral support for both him and Hinata. The snake of a woman had gotten under his skin attacked him where it mattered most. At first they were minor jabs about his appearance, mostly his long chocolate brown locks, and how impractical they were for a martial artist and personal body guard to his younger cousin. But then she latched onto a sensitive subject, one of the few that could get a physical reaction out of the usually stoic man: his status among his family. Long story short, the Hyuuga had been banned from entering that studio after he ruined a chair and nearly attacked the host.

"I know Oinkers, but that is what I am counting on." Sakura stared at her reflection on the wall of mirrors the girls used during dance practice, her fingers playing with the ends of her hair that nearly reached the bottom of her ribcage. "Mom doesn't realize it, but I am a joke. The media might adore my princess persona, but only children like the pop garbage her and my record label make me sing. And you know, that would be fine if I was still just a kid myself. But I am nineteen, and do you want to know what most adults thing of me? They either think I am extremely fake, which in a way they are right, or they think that I have been groomed to be perfect to the point that I am not relatable and just plain dull. I am a sell out with nothing real to say, just a mindless zombie created by the music industry to try to steal money from people by producing mind numbing and infuriating music, which again, they are right!"

The blondes face scrunched up is displeasure. "Are you really sure about that Forehead? I mean its obvi you're going to have some haters; all the big names have 'em. But things can't really be that bad."

Emerald eyes turned to look into the pools of blue that belonged to her bestie. "Ino, my approval rating for anyone over the age of eighteen is a measly fourteen percent. I've been digging into it myself, searching forums, joining chatrooms, and messaging random people under the guise that I was a student that needed data for a college paper. Some of them were absolutely brutal, but they were right. My mother micromanages my career too much. She needs to not care so much about keeping this façade of this perfect little doll and just let me start being myself in front of people. Yeah, there are going to be people that hate the real me, but it honestly cannot be much worse than the hatred I am receiving now." As she spoke her voice got firmer, her determination becoming more and more apparent. "If I make a guest appearance on her show, there is no doubt in my mind that she won't be able to resist bringing up dwindling fan base. I am sure she will have the numbers and statements to back up her point ready. She will try to throw me off and upset me to the point where I lose my cool and blow up on her just like Neji and practically every guest she has ever had has done. But the thing is, I will be expecting it, hell I will be counting on it. I will be ready and I will handle her with grace, but after, it will give me a perfect excuse to finally convince my mother and Kakashi that this princess image is hurting me more than helping. I may not be able to produce the music I want to because of my stupid ass contract with the record company, but maybe at the very least I can stop wearing those high waist flared skirts mom forces me in to hide my ass."

"Is that really why you are always wearing those damn thigs?!"

"Yes! It is so ridiculous! Apparently it is too firm, rounded, and sensual for the innocent look she was hoping for." The pinkette looked at said body part in the mirror. Her hips and rump her rather curvy and defined, one of the butts that were perfect for yoga pants. If she were honest, it was something she was quite proud of and wished she could show off more. "It would not surprise me if she would have had me get it reduced if she could find a plastic surgeon she could trust."

"Your mom has just reached a new level of crazy in my eyes." Both girls burst into laughter at the shear hilarity of the whole thing. Sakura would never have believed a mother to think such of thing if it were anyone else but her own.

"Now enough with all this talk about my mother and my career b s. I know there is a jar of Nutella in the kitchen with my name written all over it I plan on stuffing my face with its nutty goodness." Her face split into an eager grin, making her look almost the same age her mother was trying to portray her to be.

Throwing one of the dirty rages at her, Ino burst out into a fit of laughter. "Girl! You need to think before you speak! Say that shit in public and you will become the next cover girl of Icha Icha Paradise."

"Maybe that's the plan!" she joked before running off to the treat that was just calling her name.

That night at Ino's was just what Sakura need to through what she deemed the last week of annoying perfection. The two had spent most of the night doing what girls their age did, eating junk food, blasting their favorite music and watching movies that scared them to death but they watched anyways. It was very therapeutic and just the boost she needed in order to get herself through this interview. Unlike most interviews, she was nervous for this one as her future can drastically change and hopefully for the better.

It was no surprise that she was dressed in the style her mother seemed to love oh so much: a three quarter sleeve black knitted sweater with a white collar with a white knee length flared skirt with black polka dots and a black mesh underskirt to give it extra volume. Her white painted toes were visible through the black mesh peep toe booties that, admittedly, she absolutely adored and her pink locks were pulled up and held into a stylishly messy bun with a vintage hair comb decorated with small diamonds and pearls. As per usual she looked like the epitome of femininity and grace, though hopefully for the last time.

So here she was, standing nervously off to the side of the stage waiting for her cue to make her appearance. Unconsciously she chewed on her bottom lip in anticipation. She knew she could do this, she had everything planned out, it was just a matter of remaining calm when Anko started getting pushy. Unfortunately, despite what the general public may think, she actually had a pretty short fuse, they just have yet to see it because no one dared to anger her out of fear of angering Mebuki.

"Miss Haruno, that's your cue. Good luck." A stage hand whispered, nudging her forwards gently as Anko announced her name to the audience.

' _You got this Sakura. This is what you wanted so just remember your lessons.'_ After a deep calming breath, she stepped on the stage with a new found confidence. This needed to be done. In order to have even the slightest ounce of freedom, she needed to dive straight fist into the dragon's den and that is what she was prepared to do.

* * *

 **So how was it? I hope you enjoyed it.**

 **Don't worry, Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki will be making their debut appearance in the next chapter, but they may not meet Sakura just yet.**

 **And I want to send out a special thank you to those of you who liked the first chapter enough to follow the story. As I finished this those readers are:**

 _ **DarqueDeath4444**_

 _ **KidGoneWacko**_

 _ **Lenaar**_

 _ **Pastapower**_

 _ **mbravesgirl7**_

 **Thank you so much for your interest. It truly means a lot to me.**


	3. Rift

**I have been getting these finished a lot quicker than I thought I would. I can't get this story out of my head, your words of encouragement are helping inspire me as well.**

 **WARNING! There is some cursing in this chapter... blame Hidan.**

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The stage lights seemed brighter than normal, almost blindingly so as she made her way towards the couch designated for guests. Now more than ever she was grateful for her mother's strict training regimes, had it not been for them she was sure she would have tripped over her own feet. She couldn't afford to do that, not now when her future depended on this going as she had planned. So with a mantra of ' _heel, toe, heel, toe,'_ repeating in her head, she made her way towards the host.

As soon as she was within arms' length of the woman she was pulled into what appeared to the audience a friendly hug, but Sakura knew better. This was an act she often put on for all her guests, especially those of the female persuasion. She would hug them as a way to show comradery, to ease them into a false sense of security. Then she would ask some small questions, nothing particularly important or news worthy, then once the guest relaxes she strikes like the snake she was.

The pinkette delicately eased herself onto the couch, patiently waiting for the crowds' thunderous applause to die down so the woman could begin the onslaught. The applause wasn't for her though, no they were eager to see her humiliated by the ruthless woman. They were excited to see her fail, not only in front of them, but in front of the wide range of viewers Anko seemed to have for being as nasty as she was. She knew she signed up for this, wanting the woman to attack her, but it still was an unnerving feeling knowing every person in the room was against you, just waiting for you to mess up so they can ridicule you.

"It is so nice to finally meet you face to face Sakura-san! I've been dying to get you on this show for… gosh Kami knows how long." The elder woman gave a small but very fake laugh. "I am absolutely thrilled that we have finally been able to do this!"

Sakura looked the woman over with a distant politeness, up close she could see why people liked to refer to her as the she-snake, her eyes were rather serpent like. "Believe me, not as thrilled as I am." She said softly. Which wasn't a lie. She has been trying to arrange an appearance on this show for months. She's actually surprised it didn't take longer, as Anko had the highest rated gossip show not only in Konoha, but Suna and Kirigakure too. Maybe the woman was just so eager to tear into the pop princess that should rearranged her schedule to get her in sooner. "It is a relief that we manage to find a date that suited both of our busy schedules."

"Speaking of busy schedules, I am sure everyone here as heard by now that you are up for eight musical awards along with the coveted ' **Will of Fire'** , your schedule for the next several months must be booked solid. How do you feel about your nominations?"

"To be honest, I do not feel as though I deserve them. Particularly the **'Will of Fire'**. There are many more individuals that are far more deserving than I, like Hinata Hyuuga for instance. She volunteers almost twice as many hours as I do at the pediatric ward, and volunteers at other locations across the city, yet she did not receive a nomination and I believe that to be a great injustice." An easy answer to an easy question. She has already had to practically recite that same speech for her mother more than a dozen times already and her nomination had only been made known two or three weeks ago.

"Do you enjoy volunteering at the hospital?" Of course the woman made sure to steer clear of speaking about the Hyuuga heiress. It was obvious that the last name hit a little bit of a sore spot for her.

A soft smile played on the young girl's painted lips as she thought of all the children being housed at the hospital. "Yes, I do. Those children are precious. Most of them are in there for serious illnesses, some of them with little to no hope of recovery, yet they still find the will to smile. They are so strong for being so young."

"You seem very fond of those children. If you were not a celebrity would you aspire to be a pediatrician?" It was a surprisingly soft question coming from a woman who was seen as a cut throat witch.

"There is no doubt in my mind that I would." She said without hesitation. "I love those children and I truly wish I could do something more than just read or sing for them."

"Well according to recent polls, you may want to start looking into colleges." Anko looked smug from her seat as if she already had Sakura on the verge of snapping. What the older woman didn't know was that she had just been manipulated by someone nearly half her age. "Your approval rating is so low it is laughable."

"I was not aware that I was so disliked." Feigning innocence, Sakura managed to look hurt for the sake of all of the people watching her.

"It is more than a mere dislike for you, people **loathe** you." The grin on her face turned more and more malicious as she continued to rant. "We can't seem to decide whether you are extremely fake or just another robot created by the music industry for the sole purpose of trying to shove that disgusting pop garbage you think is music down our throats."

"I can assure you Anko-san, that I am a genuine person, I have never lied to the public." Well, it was a half-truth as she never actually lied to the general public, her mother just went to extremes to hide things that she felt would harm the image she wanted for her daughter.

"So then what is the story? Are you a sell out? Or are you just one of those cretins who become a celebrity for the money and fame? Because from what I see, and I know I am not alone in this," She gestured to the audience. "but you have no voice. You are insignificant in the music business to anyone with any real merit. Only children like that mind numbing garbage. You are like the bottom of the barrel when it comes to talent. Your music is nothing to be proud of. Even 'What a Girl is' which is supposed to be about body positivity is an absolute failure. What could have been a very good message was drowned out with senseless and mind-numbing beats."

"I understand that my music may be to everyone's liking bu-"

"May not be to everyone's liking? Hell your music is barely to anybody's liking! Your approval rating as of this morning is a measly twelve percent!" On the screens behind them, numbers of polls from many different sites showed her popularity stats. "Even that crack job old politician Danzo had a larger following than you! You're an overproduced wannabe who doesn't even think for herself. No, you just simply hide behind your has-been mommy and her influence."

Before the woman could even finish her sentence Sakura was out of her seat and glaring down on her, the angel façade gone. "I can sit here like a proper lady and allow you to talk down on me till you are blue in the face. I can even handle the disrespect towards me and the time and effort I put into my music. But I will NOT stand idly by while you insult my mother! She has gone above and beyond what was necessary to give me every chance to follow my dream of singing. She has single handedly raised me, no nannies, no nursemaids, just her. She gave up her career to not only raise me, but to help me further mine, I don't know about you but I don't consider that a has-been. That is what I call a loving mother and I refuse to sit here any longer and hear your disrespect towards a woman who has sacrificed a great deal for the ones she loves." With ease, she fished the microphone cord out of the back of her sweater, unhooking the box from her skirt, and tossing it all on to the couch before walking off with not only grace, but a ferociousness that she had never shown to the public before now.

As much as Sakura disliked her mother's micromanaging, she was still her mother and she still loved her to death. She knew Mebuki only did it because she thought it was in her daughter's best interest, so while she did talk about her behind her back at times, Sakura would never just sit by and allow someone to attack her mother.

* * *

If there was one thing about himself that Itachi Uchiha valued more than anything he would probably have to say it was his uncanny ability to always be right, no matter the situation. It was something that proved to be very beneficial in this moment as it just won him almost two hundred dollars and all because a few of his housemates were foolish enough to bet against him. So with a smug smirk he held out his hand to accept the cash being handed over to him by three of the six other members of the household.

"I should have known better to bet against Weasel-chan, yeah." A disgruntled honey blonde male muttered as he tossed his money at the man. The petite red haired male next to him grunted in agreement as he too handed over his money.

With a pleased grin that looked more sinister than happy the raven haired male gave a nonchalant shrug. "Your foolishness was my gain so you won't see me complaining." The man's demeanor screamed cockiness as he counted the money, making sure no one tried to skimp out on him. He had plans to add another tattoo to his collection of body art and this bit of cash was going to help out a lot. It was a shame though that the rest of the house wasn't home at the moment to join in on the fun, he surely would of walked away with more than enough money if they had been."It was your idea anyway."

"How the hell did you know the stupid bitch was just going to walk out!?" demanded the silver maned man who sat in the corner, practically sulking at the fact he bet his money away. His hard earned money...gone.

Yes, they had bet on the outcome of the pop star's interview. Of course, with Itachi winning the bet, he had guessed that the pinkette would walk off. The blonde man, Deidara, was hoping more than anything that the petite singer would throw a huge fit just as every other guest of Anko's had done. Sasori, the red haired man who was considered his best friend had agreed with him, claiming their was no way someone was that sweet and would be ale to withstand the hostess' mudslinging. Hidan, the silver NOT grey haired man, had literally sworn up and down that she would have attacked the host. His perverse mind was practically begging for there to be a cat fight, maybe one with some clothes flying.

"Magic." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. With a gracefulness that was uncommon for a male, Itachi stood and stretched out his lean body until his back gave a satisfying pop and a pleased groan. "She has been groomed too well. Even if she wanted to curse or attack Anko, her training would never allow her to. It is odd enough that she even got as pissy as she did."

"I bet she is going to get a lot of media attention for this." spoke the man who had been silent till now.

"Is that an actual bet?" The ravenette asked with a smirk which earned a deadpanned look from the three other males in the room. With a chuckle he made his way out of the room. "Konan and Pein are on finished with their date. They'll be here soon. Practice room in an hour. You know the punishment if you're late." And with that being said the man disappeared into the house, doing kami knows what.

"Who the fuck put him in charge again?" asked Hidan as he finally crawled out of his corner, a scowl ever present on his face.

"His uncle is our manager. We kinda have to listen to him, yeah." With a despondent sigh the blonde made his way out of the room, planning to get in some more relaxation before being put through the grueling practice that was sure to come.

"Fucking Uchihas." For once the three men were all in agreement.

* * *

 **And there is (the edited) chapter 3! Let's how I can keep up this pattern of each chapter being longer than the last.**

 **So how do you like it? I hope I managed to meet your expectations _,_ especially with Sakura's attitude.** **If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to review or even private message me.**

 **I also want to thank those who chose to follow/favorite/review this story. Believe me when I say it means the absolute world to me. I enjoy writing quite a bit so I am going to do it either way, but seeing there are people that actually enjoy what I write just pushes me to get these chapters out quicker and I put in a lot more effort to make sure they are good.**

 **Oh! And I am currently taking requests for one shots if anyone is interested. I promise, they won't interfere with my updates to this story as I usually have a good portion of the next chapter written by the time I get any new activity**

 **Err… I think that's all, so please think about reviewing and stuff!**


	4. Breakthrough

**And chapter 4 is here! I am on a roll!**

 **Warning: some minor cursing, not Hidan this time!**

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In the nineteen hours that have passed since Sakura walked off the stage after that horrid woman had insulted her mother, Mebuki had said a grand total of four words to her daughter: meeting with Kakashi tomorrow. That's it! She knew her mother was going to be upset with her, at least a little bit, but she never would have guessed the woman would be this angry! She figured her mom would have given her the typical speech about etiquette and how a proper lady should act, the one that usually lasted at least an hour. Maybe the woman would of raise her voice a little bit once they were alone with no chance of eavesdroppers, but this, this was a little harsh in her opinion.

Sakura had to admit it felt kind of lonely to receive the silent treatment from her mother, especially since she normally couldn't get the woman to shut up. It just seemed so… odd for her to be silent for more than a few moments at a time. But if she had to be honest with herself, she didn't regret what she did, not in the least. If anything she regretted not punching the snake in her smug face, maybe with the hopes of breaking her nose or a black eye at the very least.

It was too late for that now though. Now she had to focus on making her mother and Kakashi see that this incident was actually a benefit to them and not a hindrance. A lot easier said than done, well at least when trying to convince her mom. Kakashi was going to be a breeze to convince. Surely by now he looked into Anko's numbers and statistics to see if they were true or not. He had a lot more sense to him when it came to her career, even though he had his irresponsible moments, but he usually just kept his mouth shut as he was technically Mebuki's employee. But after all of this, she was sure he couldn't keep quiet any longer.

So here she was, sitting in Kakashi's office with her mother, waiting for the perpetually late man to arrive. It was so unbearably quiet in there and it did nothing but put Sakura more on edge. She swore that if that perverted old man took any longer to show up for the meeting he called for, she was going to strangle him. She couldn't take too much more of this tension before she snapped.

To Sakura's relief it only took another five minutes before he finally showed up. Only fifty-two minutes late this time, she had to admit, if this were a different situation she would actually be very impressed. This was an extremely rare moment, usually he is two hours late at the minimum.

"Sorry I'm late, I went out to get a coffee and passed this little old lady who needed help carrying her groceries home." This excuse probably had to be his favorite one to use.

The young woman couldn't help but snort at her manager's antics. "You are such a liar Kakashi. You have a coffee machine right there." She pointed to the machine in the corner with a grin. "You were hiding in the janitors closet again reading your dirty books weren't you?"

"Er…" He gave a sheepish grin before quickly trying to change the subject, meaning she had been right in her assumption. "Anyways! I thought it would be better for us to meet face to face so we may discuss yesterday's events and how to proceed from here."

"What are the chances that we can just play it all off as Sakura being ill? Or maybe having menstrual cramps or something?" Mebuki didn't hesitate to cut to the chase. She wanted this situation handled and under control as soon as possible.

Sakura literally face-palmed before she even had the chance to think about it. Seriously! She loved her mother but how dense could she be? "Seriously mom!? You cannot be serious right now!"

"Actually Sakura, I am." The glare present on her mother's face made her freeze. In all of her life she had never been on the receiving end of that look and honestly it was a little terrifying. "You were careless! You slipped up on live television! You raised your voice which is beyond rude and improper, and you walked out on your host before the interview was over! You embarrassed not only yourself but me and Kakashi as well. Do you know how much damage control we are going to have to do, how much effort we are going to have to put in to make sure your ratings don't plummet after your little stunt?"

"Really mom? Did you pay attention to what happened during the interview at all or are you choosing to only focus on the fact that I walked out?" She couldn't do it anymore, she couldn't keep her mouth shut and pretend to be a good little girl. If her mom didn't want to see the truth, she was going to make her see it. "Anko didn't make any of that stuff up. Those numbers were real. People hate me, and no that is not an exaggeration, they **HATE** me. Do you want to know what they say about me on social media? Do you want to know what people say about me when they aren't worried you are going to ruin their careers or whatever for saying something even slightly negative about me?" Sakura pulled her phone out of her bra and went through it till she found some screen shots of tweets she had Ino send to her. "Here is one of the milder ones. 'Is there a Kickstarter campaign for Sakura Haruno to NEVER sing again?' This one is pretty calm too: 'I love how music takes you to another place like Sakura Haruno is playing at this restaurant so I'm going to a different one.'. Oh here is a one that is a little bit meaner: 'Sakura Haruno's forehead is the same size as my left ass cheek and I weigh 250lbs, so I'll let you imagine how big that must be.' Wait! There's more! 'If I had to choose between screwing a pie or Sakura Haruno, I'd chose the pie.'. How about this one, it's pretty nasty if I do say so myself: 'I would rather chop my arm off and screw myself with my detached limb than listen to Sakura Haruno sing ever again.' By the way, I censored myself on that one. No one is believing this princess bullshit! Why would they?"

"Watch your language Sakura!" Mebuki scolded which only earned her an eye roll from her daughter. "And I am sure those are just a few negative voices amongst a sea of admirers. Every star has a few individuals who have nothing better to do than try to destroy a celebrity's hard work. Stop focusing so much on the negative and focus on the positive."

"Actually Mebuki," Sakura practically yelled out in happiness when Kakashi finally felt the need to cut in. "Sakura's numbers for the over eighteen demographic are rather low, one of the lowest in the business."

"You can't be serious Kakashi, how is that even possible?"

"Look Mebuki, things have changed since your time in the spotlight. I know when you were Sakura's age, a woman was expected to be a proper lady, but now the general public is looking for more strong willed woman to be role models for their daughters. They want someone who is going to encourage the younger generation to take charge and follow their dreams, not bite your lip and let everyone walk all over you." He handed over his tablet to the older woman, on the screen where charts and numbers Sakura really couldn't see from her chair. "I've kept my mouth shut in the past out of respect for you, but if you really want Sakura's career to continue, we need to drop this act. Look, the numbers on the left showed her approval rating as of eight a.m. yesterday, the numbers on the right show her approval rating as of a two hours ago. After standing up to Anko, and not for her sake but yours, her numbers went up by nine percent. She is the number one hot topic right now, and people are eating it up."

The woman frowned and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. How could it be that people actually enjoyed such a display? It was entirely improper and highly embarrassing to watch. "So what are you saying Kakashi?"

"You may not like this, but I think it is in Sakura's best interest for her to start being her normal hot headed self in public."

"Hey! I resent that!" The teen spoke with a huff even though on the inside she was dancing. She could not believe that her plan had actually worked! She could not believe it! She was on cloud nine right now.

"And if I refuse to allow it?"

"Well then, Saku's career will be over even before the contract with the recording studio is even up. Honestly, this is our only option here, there is no going back, it wasn't working for us anyways." Kakashi gave his longtime friend a sympathetic look. He knew letting go of this princess persona was going to be difficult for the woman. It was her only way of holding on to the past, but it was time to let Sakura grow up. He had been on her side for a long time, with how long he has known the family he saw Sakura as the daughter he never had, so he can understand his friend's reluctance to let go. But she was at the end of her teenage years, she now was a beautiful and proud young woman. That shy little girl that used to hide behind her mother no longer existed and Mebuki needed to realize that.

With a dejected sigh the woman finally consented. "Fine, then what do we do from here?" She could not believe she was agreeing to allow her daughter to act like a rambunctious tomboy in the eyes of the public. Her precious little princess was disappearing right before her eyes and there was nothing she could really do to stop it. When did femininity become such a bad thing? This city has certainly gone downhill if they found that kind of behavior from a young lady to be appealing.

"We need to start transitioning Sakura into her real self, but slowly, we need to ease the media into it. If she jumps right into her normally brash self, they will only take that as evidence that she has been lying for years. If we do this properly and slow enough we can play it off as she is finally hitting her rebellious streak."

"Can we start with these stupid ass skirts? I am excited to get something else in my wardrobe." The pinkette could no longer contain her excitement, her grin just wouldn't stay away. The little angel is gone forever! Hello real Sakura! "Maybe some pants? And sneakers I can wear for more than working out?"

"Sakura, language. Please." Her mother sounded extremely tired, as if she hadn't slept in days. It was obvious this argument had taken a toll on her. "I may have agreed to this, but I would still prefer if you did not curse in front of me."

"Actually, I may have the perfect way to go about this with minimal chance of backlash." Kakashi stood from his chair and gave the two ladies that lopsided grin of his. "Give me about twenty minutes."

"You better not go back to your closet to read those dirty books of yours." The pinkette warned with a displeased glare. She never understood why he liked those so called novels. Don't get her wrong, she had her own stash of risqué books hidden away where her mother could never find them, but they were well written with at least some plot to balance out the smut. Those horrid things Kakashi reads though? Practically every chapter had a raunchy scene with very little believability.

"I promise you Sakura, I am planning to do no such thing. Trust me. Just twenty minutes." With an affectionate pat on the girls head he made his exit, cellphone already typing away.

"Twenty bucks says he won't be back for another hour." The younger of the two women said in a dead pan.

"Thirty says it won't be for another two." Mebuki countered, her face a little more relaxed. She knew she was going to have a very difficult time with this new plan but Sakura need to come first before her selfish desires.

"You're on!" She was so excited she was practically bouncing in her seat. She didn't know what Kakashi was planning, but it couldn't be that bad. She was too happy to care how long it actually took for him to get back; all she knew was that she couldn't wait to go celebrate with Ino. This had been the best decision of her life!

* * *

 **So just a heads up, I went back and edited the last bit of the previous chapter. After re-reading it, I just didn't really like how it turned out though I'm still not a 100% happy with it, I think it is a lot better. It isn't TOO drastic of a change so you don't have to go back to read it if you don't want to, but the only change is within Itachi's segment so it wouldn't take long to read it.**

 **So I hope I delivered with Sakura's attitude in this chapter. It's actually pretty difficult for me to write her speech out the way I imagine it, because I instinctually want to write out the way I talk which tends to be fairly more proper than your average person. I know it fits with her character a bit for now, I know it will become more difficult as you know she starts loosening up and forgetting her teachings.**

 **The mean tweets I used in this chapter are actual tweets sent to real celebrities. I cannot remember who sent the original tweets or who they were meant for, but they can be found on the Jimmy Kimmel Mean Tweet videos.**

 **Finally, I want to thank mbravesgirl7 and parsimonia for the reviews. They mean the world to me and they are what's pushing me to get these chapters out even faster. I hope I can keep writing and meeting your expectations.**

 **Thank you lovelies. Your support means a lot to me.**


	5. Metal Face

**Please read the authors note at the end of the chapter! Thank you in advance.**

 **Warning: Language.**

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Technically both women were wrong. It didn't take him an hour; it didn't take him two. No. The insufferable man took more than 3 hours to return from his phone call! More than three long hours in a stuffy office, sitting in those uncomfortable chairs with the high backs that made Sakura's bottom hurt. Seriously, if Kakashi had not been a longtime friend of the family's, he would have lost his job a very long time ago. Don't get her wrong, Sakura loved the man, he was the closest thing she's had to a father since her early years of childhood and her also just happened to be Sakura's god father, but his tardiness and infuriating shenanigans were too much to handle at times.

As soon as she heard the soft click of the door opening Sakura twisted in her chair, now sitting on her knees, and whipped her flats at man entering the room. "There you are, you stupid pervert! I thought you said you weren't going to read that damn porno of yours!" she shouted, fixing him with a harsh glare. Her mother scolded her from the seat next to her, but she ignored it as she stared the man down, a mean glint in her eyes. It wasn't until she heard a quiet snicker that most definitely did not come from Kakashi did she notice that he did not walk in alone, but with two very tall males with him. Her first instinct was to apologize and hide her head in shame, years of etiquette classes telling her it was the proper thing to do, but then she remembered that she no longer needed to play the part of a proper lady. Instead she only held herself with more confidence under the watchful eyes of the newcomers.

"Did I not promise you my dear that I would not disappear to read?" Her father figure said with his usual fake smile.

"Yeah, but you also promised you would only be twenty minutes and that was," She pulled her phone out of the top of her dress and glanced down at the time before fixing her glare on him once again. "three hours and thirty-eight minutes ago. So you better start explaining old man!"

"This here is Madara Uchiha." Sakura perked up at the last name, it sounded very familiar to her but she couldn't remember where she heard it before. "One of his many cousins is a very good friend of mine from childhood." He gestured to the older of the two males. The first thought that ran through her mind as she looked him over was that she wanted to brush his hair. His dark mane was a wild mess, though still looked very well taken care of, and was impossibly long, the tips brushing against his rear. It looked nice next to the red of his button up shirt, which was left mostly unbuttoned and stretched taunt against his broad shoulders. and made his already fair skin look a few shades lighter in comparison. Though it was obvious he was her mother's age at the very least, she couldn't help to think he was very handsome, must have been particularly popular with the ladies when he was younger. And the way he held himself practically screamed professional, though with an underlying layer of playful naughtiness. "Madara is a manager for his nephew Itachi's band, and this is Itachi."

Her attention turned to the other male. It was obvious the two were related, they had the same dark hair and sinfully corrupted eyes, but the younger man, who could be no more than five years her senior, decided to take a different approach with his appearance. While though wild, his uncle still looked professional while the younger man looked anything but. His hair was nearly as long, reaching the lower half of his back, and was a lot smoother and shinier, but it was shaved on the one side. He was rather tall, at least a full head taller than her, and on the slimmer side with narrow hips and some definition in muscle, at least from what she could see through the thin black sweater he wore which showed a small peek of a tattoo. From her spot across the room she could tell his ears were stretched with a crescent tapers and had several other ear piercings she couldn't distinguish from this distance. His thin lips were pierced with snake bites, black hoops, and had silver studs on each nostril. Following up the path of his nose at the very end was a silver bar through his bridge which only brought attention to his best feature in her opinion: his eyes. They were surrounded by beautiful thick lashes and they reminded her of the color of the sky on a moonless night. Even if she were mere inches from his face she felt she would not be able to distinguish between the iris and the pupil.

As her eyes roamed over the younger male, his looked her over too, at least as much of her as he could see from his spot behind the tall chair she was kneeling on. He couldn't help but think that the woman looked a lot smaller in person. If it were not for the fact that she was wearing one now, he would have assumed it was those ridiculous dresses and skirts she always wore that made her look plumper on television. Maybe what they say is true, the camera adds ten pounds. With a mental shrug he continued his scrutiny until they locked eyes.

It was her mother who pulled her from their stare down by poking her in her ribs, a particularly ticklish spot for her, which earned a small squeal as she swatted away her hand. She gave them a polite smile in greeting but otherwise stayed quiet, wary of the two newcomers.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances." Mebuki, ever the polite women said with a small bow to the two men. "It brings me great joy to be meeting such esteemed individuals." So they were members of the elite too, no shocker there with their aristocratic looks.

"Okay so we know their names now, but that doesn't explain what took you so damn long!" The youngest member of the room hissed, glaring down her manager as he walked to his desk. Once he sat down she twisted her body and collapsed into the chair, her legs now thrown over the side, her feet kicking back and forth. "Explain yourself old man! Or I swear to Kami that I will find each and every one of your damn books and I will burn them while you watch." The threat earned her a look of pure horror from the silver haired gentleman.

"You were right Kakashi, she is a little firecracker." The elder Uchiha agreed with his velvety voice. "It must have been very difficult for you be the sweet doll the media wanted you to be." He was looking down at her with an amused expression, clearly enjoying her attitude. He himself has seen a few of her interviews as most have, but he much preferred this version over the little doll on those talk shows.

"You have no idea!" She let her body slide out of the chair and onto the floor, scooching her butt closer to her mother's feet, said woman nudging her with her knees for her behavior. "Please Uchiha-sama, take my seat." She offered, finding the floor more comfortable than those damn chairs anyways.

"So polite to your elders, ah, if only Ita-chan was as considerate as you are." With a polite smile he took the seat offered to him as his nephew stood to his left, glaring down at the older man for referring to him such a childish manner. "And please, call me Madara. We are going to be seeing a lot more of each other after all."

Both the woman in the room exchanged confused looks before looking over to the silver haired manager. "What does he mean by that Kakashi?" Mebuki asked, her tone betraying her obvious uneasiness at involving others in something so personal "What are you not telling us?" It was odd for him to keep things from them, no matter how small and trivial of a matter it was.

"So the princess doesn't even know?" Itachi asked with a smirk, clearly amused by the situation. Oh this was going to be interesting.

"Don't call me princess." The pinkette snapped, sneering at the man from her spot on the floor.

"See, I don't think that is going to happen _princess_."

"Do you want to go metal face?" Sakura was on her feet in an instance, glaring harshly at the man. "Because I'll rip each one of those piercings out of your face and believe me it won't be pretty. Might even scar that thing you call a face." She threatened with a sadistic smile. She knew she was being a little too hostile towards the man, but really it was all Kakashi's fault. If he didn't take so damn long to get back she wouldn't be this hungry or cranky. So with little to no food in her stomach she was just a ticking time bomb. So yeah, all Kakashi's fault.

"Sakura! Behave yourself young lady!" Her mother hissed, grabbing on to her arm, trying to coax the girl back down into a sitting position as the other Uchiha watched with a very amused smirk.

"You should listen to your mother princess. Besides, is this any way to treat your boyfriend." The younger male watched with sick satisfaction as her face went from anger to utter shock then all color drained from her face only to turn bright red seconds later making a complete circle back to anger.

" **BOYFRIEND**?!"

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay everyone. I meant to get this finished sooner but life got in the way you know? But have no fear! I have not forgotten about all of my lovely readers!**

 **So I now Sakura seemed a little bit snippy for no reason in this chapter but honestly if you had to wait for someone for more than three hours without any food when they promised they would be back in twenty minutes I think you would be snippy too.**

 **Now I want to let you know that I did not make Itachi's appearance the way that I did just for the sake of it or just because that's what a stereotypical rocker looks like or whatever. I wrote his appearance to reflect this fan art I saw of Itachi and Kisame that actually inspired me to write this fanfiction. If I can find the original artist I plan on asking them if I could use it as cover art for this story.**

 **I originally planned for this to be longer but since it has been almost a week now since I last updated I cut it off here so no one thought I had already abandoned this.**

 **Which brings me to my next question. What would you as readers prefer? Would you prefer short chapters but with quick updates or would you prefer that I write out longer chapters and delay them for a little?**

 **Anyways, I hope you are all enjoying my story and I would really like to hear your thoughts and opinions.**

 **Until next time lovelies!**


	6. Scapegoat

**I am soooooo sorry for the delay, things kind of got away from me you know? Plus, I tried making this a longer chapter but it just wasn't transitioning right no matter how hard I tried.**

 **With that being said, I am just going to keep doing what I have been doing and go with the shorter chapters but update more frequently. They aren't horribly short, averaging around like 1,900 words per chapter, so I hope they are long enough to satisfy.**

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Surprisingly enough it was not Sakura that shouted out her displeasure, no, it was the ever polite and calm Mebuki who seemed as though she was about to have a heart attack. Her mouth was going a mile a minute as she continually babbled on and on about how she did not agree to such a bold move, some of her words coming out a garbled mess with how quickly she was speaking. It was one thing to agree to allow the image change, it was a completely other thing to allow her daughter to date, especially someone so…unorthodox. Sakura on the other hand was the complete opposite, docile as can be as she stared unblinkingly at the two smirking men, her back ram rod straight. Her brain was moving at a much slower pace than her mother's as she tried to figure out how any of this made sense.

"Mebuki, calm down." Kakashi coaxed gently. "Will you stop babbling nonsense so I can properly explain this to you. Sakura. Sakura. Sakura!" With a quick jerk the young woman woke for her stupefied state and turned her attention to her manager. "Calm your mother down please so I can explain everything."

With a small nod she turned to her mother, forcing the woman to look at her as she spoke in soothing tones, attempting to make the woman sit back down in her chair. "I cannot believe that you did not discuss with them beforehand about involving us and what our help would entail." The elder Uchiha said as they waited for Sakura to calm her mother.

"If I had let them know beforehand, Mebuki would never have agreed to it." The silver fox confessed with a sheepish grin which earned an eye roll from Madara. "Sakura on the other hand would have agreed without even meeting Itachi first. She isn't the most skilled of thinking before she acts."

"Kiss my ass Kakashi." Sad woman snapped, her mother now under control, though still looking a little worse for wear. Sakura had to admit, this was the most worn out and tired she has ever seen her mother, it almost made her feel guilty about the whole thing.

"Ah, I believe that is now Itachi's job, eh?" he asked with a teasing grin as he watched the little firecracker make exaggerated gagging noises.

She almost screamed when she felt lips on her ear, heavy breathing tickling the sensitive area, making a shiver run down her spine. "I'd be more than happy to give you something to actually gag on." whispered said man just quiet enough so no one else in the room could here. The comment earned him a swift and painful jab to the chest with her elbow, a annoyed hiss escaping her lips when something stabbed her back. She should of guessed that with a face adorned with so many modifications, his nipples would be pierce as well.

"So are you going to explain why I am apparently dating the male hooker here?" She asked, trying her best to ignore the man standing so close to her who, she was almost positive had just whispered something about a private showing.

"Essentially Itachi is going to be a scapegoat." Kakashi explained, his tone abnormally serious. "He is going to be your date for the Leaf Music Awards."

"The media will not be able to resist asking about Itachi and why he is arriving as your date. Which is where you will make it public knowledge that the two of you are dating. This is going to spread like wild fire, especially if you win any of the awards you are nominated for." continued the other Uchiha in the room, his almost playful demeanor replaced by a stone cold business man.

"So what does any of that have to do with my image?" she asked arms crossed and hip cocked to the side. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about this, it had its pros and cons, but right now she was just too irritable to actually weigh them against one another.

"The media is going to watch you like a hawk to see if it is really true so it means we will be spending a lot of time together." His fingers played with her pink locks as he spoke. "You will be able to slowly drop the princess act, becoming more and more rebellious, and they will blame it on me, thinking I have been corrupting your innocent little mind. Not too far of a stretch given our obvious differences in public image." He gestured to her and her obvious dainty and feminine appearance and then to himself, a perfect picture of rugged rebelliousness.

"What will Itachi-san being gaining in return for his… services." Mebuki asked skeptical of the whole scenario. She knew from personal experiences that to get ahead in in the world of the elites you had to make deals, you have to give a little in order to get a little. And as much as she hated to admit it, this seemed to be a very beneficial plan, if the price wasn't too high.

"Nothing too steep, I assure you Haruno-san." Madara promised, turning his full attention to her. "Even if Sakura is not well liked she is still well known. By being associated with your daughter Ita-chan will be able to establish himself more firmly as a member of the elite, even if he is only known as the man that tainted Konoha's pop princess. By bringing more attention to himself, he will be bringing more attention to his band who, though not totally unknown, are still on the rise and could always use some more publicity. We do have some minor requests, but we are more than willing to discuss these and compromise."

"And what are these requests?" Her mother was back to her normal self, talking to them in a tone that showed she was just as serious about business as they were, even if she still looked a bit tired.

"We would like my friend Sasori to design Sakura's dress for the awards show. He is currently working solely with the band, creating almost our entire wardrobe. He is looking for a model to wear a new dress he has been creating for a while now, but the only female in our band isn't… delicate enough for his design." Itachi explained as he pulled out his phone to show the older woman the sketches for the design.

"Pfft. Delicate? You're probably more delicate than I am." Said woman scoffed. This was why she wanted to end the charade, she hated being seen as delicate, especially when she was far from it. She wasn't stupid enough to think she was the strongest person around, but she could at the very least hold her own if the situation called for it. Curiosity got the better of her though so she tried to take a peek at the photo but he quickly hid it from her view, smirking when she shot him a displeased glare.

"As you can see Haruno-san, it is nothing inappropriate." He made sure to pocket his phone in the compartment farthest from the midget in front of him. He wouldn't put it past her to steal his phone to take a peek at the sketches and he enjoyed her irritated looks too much to allow her to see them.

She nodded in agreement, thoroughly impressed by the sketches. If the designer could bring as much detail in the actual dress as he penned in the sketches, then the dress was going to absolutely stunning, especially on her dear Sakura "I approve."

"Furthermore," the elder Uchiha started. "as long as it does not contradict with previous contractual obligations we would like for Sakura to make an appearance in a music video for one of the band's newest songs. She will not be required to sing; we would just like for her to be in the video." His long fingers reached into the leather briefcase at him feet and pulled out a manila envelope. "In this envelope is a list of their songs, video concepts, and the studio demos. Feel free to choose whichever one you feel most comfortable with." With a smile he handed the envelope over to Sakura. "These songs have yet to be released, so please, take care of the demos."

"I will inquire the details of her contract with the record label and I can get back to you on that before dinner time tomorrow." The older woman pulled out her phone and typed out a memo for herself as a reminder, before turning her attention back to the gentleman. "Is there anything else you wish to request?"

"No, that is all."

"I actually have a question." Sakura spoke up. "Is this a sure thing now? Like don't I get a say or even just time to think it over?"

"I know this is a little too much, too quickly Sakura, but this is your best option. This relationship will only last a few months, a year at the very most. If it gives you more comfort you are more than welcome to end it at any point as long as the same curtesy can be extended to Itachi." Madara gave her an apologetic smile as he continued on. "And I'm afraid that we can only give you a day or two to think things over. We will need time to get the two of you comfortable enough with each other to be a convincing couple and to come up with a proper story on how the two of you met. Sasori is also going to need a sufficient amount of time in order to complete the dress to your proportions."

"That is more than generous. Sakura-dear, I am not exactly thrilled about this either, I never wanted you to have to bargain like this in order to do well in this business, but they prove a valid point. This agreement is very beneficial to both your career and Itachi's. I wish there was another way, but I trust Kakashi's judgement. If he thinks this is what truly is best for you and your career, then I will set my personal feelings aside and I will support you on this."

"Your mother is right Sakura. No matter how you look at this, there is no real down side. By the end of the year you can be completely free to be yourself."

She nodded in noncommittally, her teeth digging into her bottom lip and her fingers playing with the lacey trimming of her dress as she thought things over. Was this all really worth it? Was it worth lying to the media just to get out of another lie unscathed? If she thought about it the way they were, it was a good idea, she would be completely faultless as long as the public never found out it was a hoax. He would receive all the blame for her new behavior. It really had no down side… except for the idea of actually spending time with the man who was still playing with the ends of her hair. And if she spent time with him, it meant she was going to have to spend time with his band too and who knows what kind of weirdos they were. If they were friends with him, they had to be a bunch of clowns. But it was only for a couple of months right? She could put up with them for a couple months if it meant she could act like a normal person in public. They honestly couldn't be that bad.

With a displeased sigh and a jutting lip she finally caved. "Fine, I agree." She could practically feel the male smirking behind her, and all she wanted to do was turn around and slap that stupid look off of his face. She was already starting to regret her decision.

"That is wonderful!" Kakashi was grinning from ear to ear. "Now let's finish everything up here before Sakura chews through her lip."

Another hour passed before Sakura and Mebuki were finally able to leave the office. All they had to do was tie up a couple of loose ends and work out scheduling which shouldn't have taken more than five, maybe ten minutes tops, but Itachi refused to cooperate simply for the sake of irritating Sakura. At one point he even kidnapped her poor phone so he could steal her number and in the process got his weirdo germs all over it. By the time they finally left the office Sakura was sore, hungry, and just plain irritated especially since they didn't even finish everything they needed to, Kakashi simply took pity on her and ended it before she murdered a certain someone. But now she needed to meet up at his house the following afternoon, a task she was obviously not looking forward to.

"Sakura dear, why don't you go spend time with Ino tonight?" Mebuki suggested once she noticed just how irritated her daughter seemed to be. "You look like you could use the girl time and you know she is going to throw a fit if you do not tell her about Itachi-san right away."

"Are you sure about that mom? I mean, I can only just call her later to tell her the news." Don't get her wrong, she would love to go spend some time with her best friend so she could blow off some steam, but it was odd that her mother suggested it. Honestly it worried her more than anything.

"Go spend some time with her. I will be probably heading straight for bed once I get home anyways. Today was a bit much and I am exhausted." She admitted with a small smile. Sakura could tell she was not lying, she had never seen the woman look this tired and haggard before. She actually looked her age for once.

"If you're sure…" She pulled out her cell phone and set a quick text to Ino letting her know she was crashing at her place tonight and to invite Hinata and their other friend Tenten over too if they could make it because she had big news. Not even a full minute later she received a reply from the blonde.

' _How big?'_

' _BIG. Look I'll tell you when I get there. Just order take out and tell Hina & Tennie to bring goodies. Oh. And break out the alcohol.'_

' _O.o must be real big if you want to drink.'_

' _Believe me it is.'_

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 **And chapter complete. Again I am sorry for the long delay, I hope no one thought I abandoned this.**

 **Thank you everyone for the reviews and favorites. I'm struggling a bit with my personal life so seeing them brings a smile to my face and brightens my day. So really, thank you everyone.**

 **I am going to add the picture that inspired this fanfiction as the cover photo. I do not personally own it. I'd like to ask the creator, but I am not too adept with that sort of thing so if anyone knows who the artist is, please let me know so I may talk to them. Thank you.**

 **Until next time lovelies!**


	7. Binge

**So next chapter is here!**

 **Do I need to keep putting a warning for cursing? Well I will anyway. Haha.**

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Sakura couldn't tell if her sudden bout of nausea was from the large quantity of junk food and take out that she ate the previous night or if it was stressed induced, probably the latter as she was used to bingeing whenever they had a girl's night, but either way she just wished it would go away.

The night with her girls was very relaxing even though she wasn't able to escape what is now a reality for her. As soon as Hinata and Tenten showed up she was cornered and forced to spill what happened at her meeting. Her friends were absolutely thrilled she was going to be able to be herself, that is until she told them that it came with a price: a highly punctured and haughty boyfriend. At first they thought it was just some weird joke the pinkette was trying to pull, it took a full ten minutes to convince them that she was being completely serious.

"So wait, let me get this straight, you're going to be dating some punk rocker dude, de-princessify, and blame all of it on him?" the blonde asked, chewing on a strand of red licorice as she spoke.

"For one de-princessify is not a real word." Sakura said slowly as if talking to a child while she scooped herself a large spoonful of Nutella. The nutty spread was admittedly her one guilty pleasure, never being able to turn down the treat. She knew that eating it the way she did was terrible for her health but she just couldn't help it. Besides, she didn't think it mattered with how active she was on a daily basis anyways. "But yeah, pretty much." She muttered with a full mouth.

"How is this agreement beneficial to him?" The quieter member of their little group asked, well aware from her family's profession that is was uncommon for an elite to do something unless it benefitted them. Being an heiress for a large corporation had exposed her to the darker side of humans at an early age, though instead of letting it tarnish her views, she used that as motivation to be a goof person, to help those who needed some light in their lives.

"Publicity. He has a band and I'm gunna be his ladder to the top. Their argument was so solid that my mom even agreed to it, hell she agreed to it before I did."

"Wait wait wait wait!" The final member of their group interrupted, looking confused. "Your mom agreed to this? The same mom that won't even let you eat any junk food in your home because she thinks it'll make you fat and give you ugly ass zits?"

"Yes!" The pop star screeched out as she stole some licorice. "Not right away obviously. She actually lost her cool for a moment, ended up screeching like a banshee. It's the first time she has raised her voice since… well since the divorce." She nibbled on the ends of the candy as her mind began to wander to the past, back when her biological father lived with them and was a part of her life. It was so long ago and she was so young that she didn't remember too much of her father. She mostly remembered the screaming, her mom screaming about how he was always out late and how he smelled like a different woman. She remembered being upset when her mom told her that he wasn't going to live with them anymore, but promised he would still come see her. She never saw him after that though. He did send her generic cards for her birthday, but they weren't consistent and were signed with a simple 'Dad', not a 'Love, Dad' just 'Dad'. It used to bother her a lot more than it does now, but where her biological father failed, Kakashi stepped up, "She was pretty quick to agree to it, but I don't think she is exactly happy about it. I think part of the reason she agreed is damage control after her meltdown. Seriously wished I would of recorded it. Or maybe it has something to do with his family."

"Oh yeah, what is the name of the poor fool that I am going to have to give the best friend talk to?" The woman looked too eager to sink her claws into the man and torture him as it was her basic right as the best friend.

"Itachi Uchiha."

"No. Seriously, what is his name?"

"I'm serious porkers!" She hissed, kind of offended that she was being doubted a second time now.

"You're a lying skank."

"And you're a cheap hooker."

"Honey, we all know I am far too pretty to be giving it cheap." The pinkette couldn't deny that. Ino was far too pretty for her own good, far more beautiful than herself. Don't get her wrong, she didn't think of herself as ugly, but with a best friend as gorgeous as Ino, she felt cute at best in comparison. "But really, what is his name?"

"Listen here you swine, I swear on my love for the delicious nutty treat that is known as Nutella, as of today Itachi Uchiha is my boyfriend."

"Ino, I think she is serious." The weapon lover snickered.

"Of course I am!" She practically growled when all three of them burst into a fit of laughter, though Hinata's was more of a giggle than a full-blown laugh. "Okay seriously, why are you guys laughing!? Who the hell is he?"

"Sakura, honey, Itachi Uchiha" The blonde pulled her best friends hands into her lap, holding on to them as she tried to control her laughter enough to speak. "is Sasuke's older brother."

"Are you fucking serious?! You mean that metal head is the teme's precious nii-san he freaking worships? I knew his name sounded so god damn familiar!" She groaned as she collapsed in on herself. She didn't exactly have the best of relationships with the younger Uchiha. They have known each other for almost a decade now, having taken the same cotillion classes when they were young. She admittedly had a crush on him back then, at least for the first few weeks, but after she pulled a small prank on him to get his attention and he took it too seriously… well the attraction died. Now they couldn't even be in the same room with each other for more than a few minutes before hell broke loose. The other three were on much better terms with the prodigy. Ino met up with him every couple of weeks or so to have lunch together and catch up on things, something that annoyed and shocked Sakura when she first found out. Tenten meets up with him almost as regularly to spar whenever her fiancé Neji was too caught up with Hyuuga business to be her partner. Hinata sees him most out of all of them and had the most pleasant relationship with him. The young Uchiha was best friends with Naruto who just happened to be her, secret, boyfriend so she found herself in his company quite often.

"Are you sure it is even the same Itachi Uchiha?" the Hyuuga heiress asked with a tilt of her head. "They are a fairly large family, larger than my family, maybe it is a different Itachi." Though unlikely, it was feasible and Sakura just hoped the odds were in her favor.

Ino had her phone out and was typing away on the tiny keyboard in seconds. When she found what she was looking for, she held up her phone for the others to see. "This him?" Viridian eyes scanned over the photo with the hopes that the man she was now dating was not the same man she heard about nonstop as a child. Unfortunately for her though, it was one in the same. In the picture on the phone he had yet to shave parts of his hair and he was missing all his facial piercings aside from the bar through the bridge of his nose, but that was most definitely him.

"He's a lot more punked out now, but yeah that's my new boyfriend for the next couple months." It was no wonder that man got on her nerves so much. It must be something in the Uchiha genes that just pushes them to irritate young girls with weirdly pink hair. "I seriously must have been an awful person in a past life to be receiving this kind of torture." She muttered melodramatically as she scooped out another generous helping of Nutella.

"Come on forehead, he can't be that bad." The blonde swiped the jar away from her best friend before the fat ass ate it all in her self-induced misery. Though she personally didn't have any issues with Sasuke, she knew that he always seemed to go out of his way to harass Sakura. She couldn't imagine the older Uchiha, though she never met him, being anywhere near as bad as his little brother. "You knew him for like what? An hour? Two? How bad could it have been?"

"Yeah, he honestly can't be as bad as the younger brat."

"I don't know, he may even be worse than Sir Cluck-cluck. He-" She was cut off by a loud knock on the door, their food was finally here. She handed some cash she had set aside to Tenten and relocated herself to a spot that wasn't visible from the front door. "Tell 'em to keep the change."

"Are you trying to make them cry?" The weapon lover snickered as she looked over how much was there, more than enough to cover their order twice over. She disappeared around the corner, only to reappear minutes later, her hands full with white paper bags.

As they ate, Sakura recounted everything that Itachi did during the meeting including some of the naughtier comments, much to Hinata's chagrin. The shy heiress was sympathetic to Sakura's plight, but her other two friends thought it too funny and took turns imitating the man, going as far as declaring 'his' obvious attraction to her. Sakura had to bribe them with the studio demo to get them to stop with their stupidity.

It only took seconds from the moment she pulled out the demo for them to snatch it from her and had the first song playing. As much as she hated to admit, and she never would to him, but his band, creepily named Murder, was surprisingly good even if they were a genre she normally didn't listen to. His singing voice was quite intoxicating, the music itself was very well done, and she thoroughly enjoyed the lyrics, even the more perverse ones. As soon as they finished the studio demos, they ventured into Murder's past two albums which were just as amazing. By the end of the night, they had ended up listening to them so much, they had every song memorized, including the demos. Tenten had also bought their older songs and downloaded them onto each of their phones.

They had stayed up until six in the morning listening to music, only stopping after they crashed from their sugar induced highs. But now, nearly five hours later, the fun and games were over and it was time to get back to reality.

"Thanks again for coming with me Piggles. It is going to take a huge weight off me knowing you are there." The pinkette muttered gratefully as she adjusted the brunette wig she was currently sported to avoid being followed. The girl's night had been just what she needed, she felt revigorated enough to take on the Uchiha head on, but it was still comforting to know her best friend was going to be there to back her up so she wasn't as outnumbered.

"Girl, it's my job. Plus, I am eager to meet the band too." The blonde grinned as she turned onto the street of the given address. "Just remember. Be fierce bitch."

The smaller girl couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips as they pulled up to their destination. It only took a moment to collect herself before she quickly exited the car, making sure to correct the white oversized t-shirt dress and move the large black leather belt back into its proper place.

As soon as Ino was at her side, they made their way to the door. Sakura was about to knock when in all her obvious eagerness the blonde beat her to it, knocking a bit too forcefully. They waited a full minute before the blonde knocked again, growing impatient. It seemed it got someone's attention this time as the door finally opened.

"Sorry, we aren't interested in anything you're selling." Here he was, the bane of her very existence standing in all his glory in only a pair of low riding sweatpants. She had been right; his nipples were pierced and most of his right arm and chest were tattooed as well. She could only imagine the body modifications that lay hidden underneath his sweats, a thought that almost made her blanch in disgust.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Let us in metal face." She said with a huff, her hip popped out to the side. She promised herself that she to at least try not to be so hostile today, but it was already proving to be harder than she thought it would be.

"Princess? Hard to recognize you without the terrible dye job." He stepped to the side to let the two of them in and she didn't even have to look up at his face to know that infuriating smirk was present. There was no doubt that he knew it was her before he even opened the door.

"Bite me." She hissed with an unpleasant glare.

"I'd be more than happy to, but you brought along a guest and that would be completely improper of us princess."

Instead of making the comment she was just itching to make, she took a deep breath and counted down slowly from ten. "Ino, this is meta-er Itachi. Itachi this is my best friend Ino." It seemed like it was going to take a lot more effort than she originally thought to be pleasant with him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Itachi." Snickered said blonde best friend, her cobalt eyes lazily checking him out from head to toe.

"It is nice to meet you too Ino." The smile he offered her pissed Sakura off. Why did this always happen? Why did it seem every man that made it their mission to torture her was an absolute gentleman to Ino?

"I brought her along for moral support." Seeing as she was safe within the walls of his home she took off the brown atrocity, letting her pink locks escape. She hated those things, but unless she wanted to be seen and followed it was a necessary evil. "And for protection."

"Do you really think we would harm you?"

"She is here for YOUR protection." She corrected easily as her small fingers worked on removing her belt.

"Why would I need protection from a midget like you?" His smirk was present once again as he placed his large hand on top of her head, ruffling her hair as if she were a child.

"Get your hand off me before you lose it." She snapped, glaring up at him through her lashes.

Her words fell on deaf ears as his hand slid from her hair and down her spine only to circle around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "How are we going to convince anyone we are a couple if you won't accept my affections, Princess?"

"I'm a good actress." She said simply as she tried to detangle herself from his grasp, sending Ino a pleading look over her shoulder as she did so.

"So Itachi," the blonde started, coming to her friends rescue. "is the rest of the band here?"

"Ah." He let the small woman escape from his embrace, his expression now blank as if he was not just tormenting her. "They are in the basement. Follow me." With a grace that was just unnatural of a man, he turned and lead them down the hallway.

"You were right, he is pretty bad." The fair-haired woman whispered. "But you gotta admit. He has a real nice butt." She grinned as she pointied at the body part that had her attention.

"That is just gross Pig."

"You are such a prude. Even with all the piercings and tattoos, he is one gorgeous male specimen."

"Then once we are done with this fake relationship he is all yours." Sakura whispered with disregard as they descended the flight of stairs into the noisy basement.

The woman rolled her eyes. Sometimes her best friend could be so dull. "You should take advantage of the situation Forehead! You need to lose your virginity to someone, why not the delicious hunk in front of us?"

"I am so not getting into that with you right now." The mental images that accompanied that statement were too scarring to put into words. "Now shut up before he hears you."

"Too late for that one Princess." Itachi called out without even looking back at the two girls, but said nothing more on the matter. Instead he just stepped aside to allow the two full entrance into the room.

It wasn't what Sakura would have pictured when she thought of a basement. What came to her mind was dark, dank, and filthy, but the room was actually bright and warm with caramel colored walls and beautiful hardwood floors. On one side of the room was a fully stocked bar, pool table, and poker table. On the other was a large theater screen with eight bodies crowded around it, with their backs to them, on what looked to be super plush and comfy couches.

Among those eight bodies, was one that she could recognize just by his silly hairstyle. No one had notices their entrance yet, so it was the perfect opportunity to strike first. So with quietness that she should not have been able to achieve in the heels she wore, she snuck up behind the raven haired male, wrapping her arms around his neck and placing her chin on top of his head. "Well if it isn't Sir Cluck-Cluck." She grinned when she felt him stiffen in her arms. Oh this was going to be so much fun.

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 **And finished!**

 **Longest chapter yet at just over three thousand words. Woots!**

 **So I never realized how long this story was going to be until just now. I am just under twenty thousand words and I haven't even gotten to the point she has met the band. The way this is looking, when everything is said and done the story is going to be at least 120k, though it will probably be more than that.**

 **Hopefully, my writing continues to be satisfactory enough for everyone to continue reading till the very end, I'm striving to finish this before the end of May. Fingers crossed.**

 **Thank you everyone for the love. I truly appreciate it. You guys are amazing.**

 **Until next time lovelies!**


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